Infernos and Thunderstorms
by ahominedaiki
Summary: "What do you think?" He asked. "I think we live in a world where the pokemon in your party determines the value of your life." She answered.
1. Prequel: The League

"No!" She yelled and smacked her hand down on the table, making the whole room turn silent. "I do not have time for this Team Plasma nonsense! We have over a hundred schools waiting on the dates for their battle examinations."

The man who'd mentioned the group gave her a glassy stare. "I don't have much patience for your anger outbursts today, my dear."

She returned the glassy stare. "Grimsley, now is not the time."

"Exactly!" He rose from his chair, gaining the full room's attention. "Team Plasma is a threat to not only the Unovan League, but over time they will be a threat to the whole way the League works. While we spend our time talking about trivial matter that happens every year in every region, they will use this time to organize, and trust me, they won't make their move until the new trainers are out there... And they will recruit many of them, hell, they'll even recruit a lot of the trainers who might feel unjustly treated by the League."

She sighed and gestured towards the door. "I need you to leave this meeting now."

The Elite Four member bared his teeth shortly, before turning on his heels while throwing his scarf over the shoulder. "If that's what you wish, but you will regret it."

Another sigh escaped her. The public members of the League were always the hardest to deal with. She rummaged her pockets and found what she looked for. A pack of cigarettes and a lighter. It was golden with the League's symbol engraved. She put the cigarette in her mouth and lit it. She inhaled once and continued from where they'd left.

"We have a full list of what dates the Gym Leaders can participate, and a list of all the Elite Four who've agreed to help, and Ace Trainers that've qualified to be inspectors. Michael, this one is yours. Assign the different inspectors. Make sure to double check if there's any personal connections. Once you've assigned them, I will check it and notify the trainer schools."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Alright, do we have a report from our breeders? Are they ready for the season?" She took a long drag of the cigarette. She'd always hated the taste, but on the other hand they'd always been there to keep her calm.

People started talking over each other.

"Enough. Caitlin, you were saying?"

The girl floated a bit above her chair as she was picked, making the pink dress flow as if she was underwater. "Breeding is going excellent. It seems like a lot of twins came out the eggs this year, so we should talk with one of the other League's about exchanging some. I suggest Hoenn since their breeders done an awful job this year, but enough about that."

"Noted, you got that, Lucas?"

The guy behind her put his hat back on his slate grey hair, double checking on the tablet in his hands before giving her a grin. "Everything's been written down, ma'am."

"Leave out the Grimsley part." She noted. "How is the recruitment of pokemon for battle exams going?"

"Right now, we have precisely 34.506 pokemon." A man in the back answered.

She put out the cigarette butt. "I want it 40.000 by the end of this week. Then I want you to weed out any final evolutions, ghost-types, poison-types, and dragon-types. We need to lower the casualties. And then I still want the number to be 40.000." The lady gathered her tablet and handed it over to the assistant behind her. "We'll meet at the same time on Monday. You better be there sharp. Meeting dismissed."

She rose from her chair, nodded to the members of this meeting, and easily slit out the room with Lucas right in her shadow. The sound of chairs being scraped across the floor could be heard as she made her way down the corridor.

"You have a meeting with the League Champions coming up in ten minutes." Lucas reminded her, giving an optimistic smile as she looked over her shoulder to squint her eyes at him.

"Meet me in my office once you've secured me a croissant and a cup of coffee from the cafeteria." She kept walking as she spoke, only lifting her hands to start massaging the sides of her face. She'd gotten a horrible headache the moment she stepped inside the doors this morning.

"At once, ma'am!" He answered before hurrying the opposite way of where she was going. Sometimes it seemed like people tried to avoid her. She tried to avoid those thoughts.

She stepped into the last room of the corridor and walked into the Champion's office. Alder's office.

It was only a few years ago, when they had realised Alder wasn't coming back anytime soon and needed a quick stand-in to please the other Champions. If you would call years a quick stand-in. She still vividly remembered the amount of dust inside this room, and how she seemed to sneeze for the rest of the day from just being inside it for thirty minutes. If it wasn't for Bubble, the place would probably still be covered in inches of dust.

Not taking a moment's break, she strolled across the room and sat down at his desk and turned on the camera and screens. Logged in by swiping her trainer card between the butt cheeks. One of the few touches Alder had left on his room was the creation of a holder for the EDC machine, and to make it look like a butthole. Every time she used it, the urge to throw it out the window grew even more.

She looked behind her on the big screen and could see the only two already logged into the chatroom was Lance and Cynthia. Her headache grew worse by just thinking of the three of them being the only ones in chat.

"Knock knock!" Lucas said with a little grin as he walked into the office. "They only had croissants with chocolate chip, I hope that's okay."

She noticed how his right laces weren't tied. "That'll do. Just put them here." She made a hand gesture towards the desk in front of her. "Tie your shoes."

A small sip from the hot coffee was all she needed to cure her headache. She he'd forgotten her morning coffee at home. "How long until the meeting starts?"

"Only thirty seconds ma'am." He answered muffled while kneeing on the floor, tying his shoes.

She looked back at the big screen behind her. Small chatheads had popped up with the Champions' names under. Only Dianthe hadn't logged into the chatroom yet. Nothing new.

Another sigh escaped her while she put the croissant down. "I guess it can't be avoided." She turned away from the screens and pressed 'Join' on the small screen next to the EDC machine. Out the corner of her eye, she saw Lucas walk out of camera's field vision.

"_Ah! Theresa, what a disappointment. Where's Alder?"_

She plastered on a smile and watched as the faces of some of earth's most unreasonable and self-righteous people came up on the screen. Just because they knew how to battle. "The only reason you're champion today is cause Kanto's true champion is nowhere to find. My champion is tending to the people's needs by actually being there in person."

_"__Enough with the squabbles, guys."_ Cynthia sighed. "_It's just a seasonal check, let's not jump at each other's throats."_ She leaned back in her chair and folded her hands. Unofficially, she was the highest-ranking Champion, simply because she was the only one they all respected individually.

_"__Heeeey! Sorry I'm a bit late, we're shooting haha."_ Dianthe just joined the conversation and gave everybody a little wave.

_"__How are the preparations for the Battle Exams coming along?"_ Wallace interrupted, leaving no room for greetings to take up time.

_"__Good here."_

"Almost done." Theresa answered.

_"__Boring."_

_"__Good."_ Wallace replied._ "As most of you know, breeding went poorly for us this year, but it might be something we can all benefit from. You all have proposed the idea of exchanging pokemon for a long time now, and we've talked it a lot through here at the Hoenn League and ended up being in favor of doing it."_

_"__No way, you gonna let my clan get some of your salamence eggs?" _

Wallace rolled his eyes at the fierce Kanto champion. _"I do not _care_ for your unearthly and unsophisticated monsters."_

_"__Alright, Wallace, you got everybody's attention. What's Hoenn's deal going to sound like?"_

He coughed while ignoring a few demeaning remarks about his hat coming from Lance. _"We would like to trade some of this year's exemplary breeding. One Hoenn origin for three of yours."_

_"__THREE?" _Cynthia barked. _"Come on, you're just going to send us a shit storm of luvdisc."_

_"__Are you questioning my integrity?" _He held a hand to his heart_. "How awful."_

Cynthia took a long pause. _"You can't be serious."_

"Unova would like to trade if the conditions can be two of ours for one of yours. My demand is the rarity have to be around the same score."

_"__Deal."_ Wallace declared, and looked down at his fingernails. _"Anybody else?"_

_"__No thank you." _Cynthia shot an evil glare at the camera. Theresa felt like it was meant for her.

_"__Anybody else with something interesting on their agenda?"_ Dianthe chimed in, holding a water bottle in her hand and seemingly sending someone outside the picture away before they even came near. Maybe a makeup artist being told to try and rush her by a producer. Wouldn't be the first time somebody on a set has interrupted the call.

_"__If nobody got anything, I got both a league and a clan to overlook." _Lance waited a few seconds, but as no reply came_. "Alright, bye guys!"_ and then his screen went black.

_"__Why does he have to be in such a hurry?"_ Cynthia scoffed, but quickly turned her attention elsewhere. _"Theresa, I've heard of a new organization called Team Plasma in Unova. I've been warned it might threaten the League's system. I want it under control, now!" _Cynthia commanded. _"Meeting dismissed."_ And her screen went black.

_"__I'll send you the information and a list of the pokemon we're sending and the ones we would like to request." _Wallace said._ "And get some sleep, girl!"_

"Goodbye." Theresa said, and turned off the camera and screens, before anybody else could give a comment. She slowly spun around in the office chair. She rested her head in her hands while squinting her eyes. Cynthia's comment led her to believe Grimsley had not only gone behind her back, he'd spilled national affairs to the champion of another league. She would have to confront him about it sometime. Sometime. Not now.

She took out her pack of cigarettes and the lighter. At first when she started working at the League they weren't allowed to smoke inside buildings. They still weren't but she chose to do so anyway. It's not like Alder would come in and tell her not to. At least there was one good thing about being champion consort with no champion around. She was the only one smoking inside the buildings, but it wasn't like anybody had come up and asked her if they could smoke as well, not that she would-

"I think that's the first time I've ever heard your first name."

She stared at him for a little while, taken back by what he'd said. "Don't go repeat it out in the hallway or you can go back to be a trainer with no accomplishments."

"Ouch." He mumbled and turned his back to her. A red flash appeared as he released a pokemon. A little blue monkey appeared. "Panpour, use scald." He pointed at the tea cup in front of him.

"Pan pan!" the little panpour did a dance, clapped its hands, and filled the cup with hot water. "Pan pan!" it clapped its hands again.

Theresa observed the two of them. Her assistant was getting very close to one of the tea pokemon at work. "Why don't you take him with you home tonight?"

Lucas looked up with widened eyes. "'Cause I'm not allowed to. He's owned by the League, not me."

"I'll make a call."


	2. Battle Exam

The classroom was buzzing with excitement. Everywhere you looked students were in their finest clothes, as if it was church day, talking loudly. Some boasted, others had shaking hands and nervous laughter.

In the seat beside him was his best friend reading through yet another book about battle strategies as if he could catch up on a trick he didn't already know.

Somebody dumped themselves at the seat in front of him. "Oh my, if it wasn't for my dad yelling at me constantly the whole morning, I swear I would've been here earlier." She exclaimed and turned around to face the two boys.

"At least you aren't late like usual." The boy beside him remarked.

"Cheren! I'm not always late!" She crossed her arms and her mouth formed a little pout.

Touya smiled at his friends. "Only half of the time."

She turned her eyes to him. "Today's not the day you guys are gonna gang up on me! I'm way too nervous for that."

"Relax. You are in the top three of the girls this year, you would have to make a huge bummer to not land a great score." Cheren replied, but his eyes were still glued to the book.

"My dad is gonna watch, and I'm afraid I'll disappoint him."

Cheren put his book down. "Bianca, relax. You are not going to disappoint your dad."

"But-"

Touya ignored the conversation and glanced around the room. His sister also had her nose in a book. The whole ride to the school he'd had to listen to her fight back and forth with their mother about whether or not she had to take the Battle exam. Her argument was that she wasn't going to use it. His mother's that it was something every teenager needed to pass.

"What are you reading this time, loser?" It snapped Touya out of his own thoughts. Two of his classmates, Sophia and Karoline, were at his sister's throat again.

He observed as they pulled the book out of her hands, waving it in front of her, taunting her. "You're really reading something as stupid as 'How to Win Friends'? Yeah, you need that, freak." Karoline laughed as if Sophia had said the joke of the year. A few spread giggles followed the remark too.

"Are you just gonna ignore that?"

He was met with questionable eyes from his friends. "Yes, Bianca, her problems are none of my concern. And especially not today." Without noticing, he'd started to tense up in his whole body.

Bianca and Cheren exchanged some concerned looks right in front of him. He chose to ignore them.

The bell rang, the sound of a book being slammed on a desk, and the students hurried to their seats. Chairs were pulled out, and it might've been the loudest silence Touya had ever witnessed his years at Striaton Trainer School.

"Good morning students." Their homeroom teacher entered the classroom with a box in her arms. She was a fairly tall woman in her early 30s with long blue pigtails.

"Good morning Ms. Bell!"

She placed the box on the desk, before turning to look around. "It's good to see you all are here." Touya would've sworn their teacher's eyes lingered on his sister.

"Today is you guys' Battle exam. There're several inspectors out at the training field right now preparing and lining up battle fields, making the last preparations before you guys get to battle.

"As we speak, the stands are being filled with both scouts, parents, and the people of Striaton. Please don't let them distract you, it is not uncommon that some will try and make you do less than your best."

A hand flew up in the air.

"Yes, Touko?"

He heard his sister clear her throat. "Is it too late to resign from the Battle exam?"

Ms. Bell looked a bit taken back by the question. "Well, Touko, no, but I really advice against it."

"Haha, you afraid it'll bring your GPA down?" Karoline asked mockingly.

Touko turned in her seat. "No, I was asking for you, cause I'm gonna humiliate you out there. Imagine being beaten by someone who hasn't battled for almost two years."

"Children!" Ms. Bell raised her voice. "I will not tolerate this behavior! You better behave when you get out of the classroom, or I will personally see to that you'll retake the year!"

If somebody had dropped a pin at that moment, they would all have been able to hear it.

"When you leave the classroom in a little bit, you will take one of the school's VS recorders from this box," she pointed down at the box she'd brought into class. "You will enter your student ID, and you will go out towards the training grounds, and get in line to get your battle pokemon. Any questions?"

When nobody answered, she lifted the lit off of the box. "Alright, it's showtime kids." With those words, she walked out the classroom, and the students started to jump out of their seats.

Before Touya even got up from his seat, Bianca had already handed him and Cheren a VS recorder each. "I might be late for everything, but I'm pretty quick on my toes." She said and pointed her tongue at Cheren. Together they all three pushed their way through the crowd and out the classroom.

Bianca grabbed both boys by the hand. "You guys nervous?"

"Not the slightest." Touya answered but could feel his palms being clammy. She chose not to comment on it.

They made their way through the hallway in silence, ignoring the few comments they got from their classmates passing by or the ones walking behind them.

It was first when they made it outside one of them finally broke the silence. "Wow. I don't think I ever remember seeing that many people at the training grounds."

Touya pulled his hand back and lifted it to screen from the sun. It was harsh today. Everywhere he looked there was either battle fields marked with new paint, ambipoms packing away cans of white paint, inspectors checking the pokemon had done a decent job or handing over belts with pokeballs to the students waiting in lines, and behind it all was a huge crowd. A crowd so big he couldn't even spot his own mom.

"Am I the only one thinking the scouts look a bit scary?" Bianca asked with a little smile. "All dressed in black and white while wearing sunglasses. You can even see some of them are ready to take notes with their little tablets."

"And we are the subjects." Cheren mumbled.

They went in three different lines to receive pokeballs. Touya couldn't help but trip a little bit. He hadn't been this nervous since his first double team tournament when he was younger.

Not having to wait for more than a few minutes, it became his turn. "Student ID?" the inspector behind the table asked.

"TOU0676."

"Alright. Please sign here, and here." He pointed down at two papers on the table. When Touya didn't immediately sign, he sighed and started explaining. "First one is, that if any of the pokemon get more hurt than our nurse joy trainees can handle, you're responsible, and will have to compensate. Second one is, the League won't be held accountable if anything were to happen to you."

Touya signed, and the inspector handed over a belt with three pokeballs attached to it. "You'll be able to see your battle pokemon and information about them on your VS recorder now."

As he left the table, he pulled the VS recorder out of his pocket. The man had been right. On the screen was a petilil, an audino, and a joltik. He double checked their moves, and felt his sunken heart being pulled up a bit.

"I got a pawniard!" Bianca exclaimed as she threw her hands around Touya's neck. "I'm so happy!"

He took a step back and patted her hat twice. "That's great, Bianca." He turned to Cheren who was just behind her. "What did you get?"

"Nothing special. A munna, a roggenrola, and a vanillish."

_"__All battling students please gather in front of the podium."_

They all three went silent, and walked across, what used to be their training grounds, together. In front of the crowd a little podium had been placed. A man stood on top of it, waiting for the students and the surrounding crowd to quiet down before he started speaking into the microphone.

_"__Welcome! I am your Head Inspector today, and I'm happy to announce the Battle Exams of Class #BX is soon to begin!_

_"__First, I will sum up the rules for those of you that might have forgotten them:_

_"__You will engage in three battles, all one-on-one, that'll be randomly chosen by my friend here,"_ while talking he pushed the button on a pokeball he'd fished up from his pocket, and out came a gallade. Small beeps started coming from the VS recorders. _"You might hear the sound of your battles being registered."_ Touya resisted the urge to look down and check who he would be battling.

The head inspector ignored the beeps and the number of students who started to look down at their VS recorders. _"You will be scored on how you battle. Whether you win or lose, but also on how well you handle the pokemon, on whether you care for their health and wellbeing, and general battle etiquette. _

_"__If we deem any pokemon to be in too dangerous a spot, we won't hesitate to stop the match. There will be nurse joy trainees ready to take care of any hurt pokemon. Now, remember to take care of each other, and give it your best. Please check your VS recorder and go to your assigned battle field. Your battle exams have officially started."_

Immediately the crowd roared. It reminded Touya of the first time he'd heard the sound clip of a triggered exploud. Now he looked down at his VS recorder. His first battle was against no other than Cheren.

He made his way to the assigned battle field, number 2. He noted how Cheren was already there, ready to shake hands, and for the battle to begin.

Before Touya was allowed to step inside the battle field, he showed his VS recorder to their assigned inspector. When he was clear, he kept walking until he stood in front of his friend.

"No hard feelings?" Touya asked and extended his hand.

Cheren gave a mechanic nod and grabbed his hand. "No hard feelings."

Both turned around on their feet and walked to the designated spot for the trainers. With a sign from both, the inspector announced the battle had begun, and Touya was the first to release a pokemon. The audino. He had to be fair and at least release first, when he knew what pokemon Cheren had up his sleeve.

From the other side a vanilish was released.

"Audino, use growl."

The pink and creamy pokemon started making threatening sounds you normally wouldn't associate with a pokemon voted one of the cutest last year.

It started hailing on their battle field, and within seconds the hail the ground the sun had already melted it. The vanillish's lower body started glowing.

"Audino, avoid the attack that's coming and get close."

Multiple icicles were fired in the direction of the audino as it ran towards the ice pokemon. One of them grazed its shoulder, drawing blood, but the bipedal pokemon seemed to ignore the attack.

Touya could hear Cheren yell out another command as the audino got closer. When he deemed the normal pokemon close enough, he cupped his hands in front of his mouth, "Fire punch!"

Red and orange flames sprung out from the audino's fist, and it jumped up into the air, and punching down on top of its head, melting half the snow the ice pokemon was covered in.

"Harden and use avalanche!"

"Follow up with a pound!" Touya shouted across the field, and before the vanillish could regain its senses, the audino landed another hit, this time at the lower body, forming a little crack in the big icicle.

The vanillish fell to the ground and started sucking up the water from the melted hail.

"Battle over!" the inspector announced. "Winner: Hilbert Touya Black!" An audino belonging to a nurse joy trainee ran onto the field and used heal pulse on both pokemon.

Touya looked around and caught eye contact with himself on the big screen across the training grounds. It was his student picture together with a picture of the audino while bold letters said "WINNER".

A mix of relief and guilt washed over him. He'd just lowered his best friend's chance while improving his own. He took a big sigh and started walking up to him. Had to get it over with.

"Congratulations on your win." Cheren said just as Touya was about to open his mouth. "If I had to lose to anybody, I'm glad it's you."

Instantly he could relax in his shoulders. "Thank you." He turned his attention to the audino still on the battle field and gave another nod. "Thank you too." With those words he recalled the pokemon and handed it over to the same audino that had used a heal pulse. Cheren did the same thing with his vanillish.

"Let's find Bianca." Touya said, tried to fill the silence between them. Cheren nodded in agreement.

She was easy to find. The blonde girl was jumping up and down with a fist in the air and came running when she saw them getting closer. She threw her arms around their necks and laughed. "I won my first match!"

A beep came from Cheren's VS recorder. "Seems like I have another battle waiting on me. See you guys." He'd already started walking away when Bianca yelled 'good luck' after him.

"So, how did your match go?" She asked with a big grin. "I bet you won!"

Touya smirked at her. "I did. The less funny part is I had to battle against Cheren."

Her grin faltered a bit. "Oh." She looked around and something on the screen had caught her attention. Touya looked up and watched his sister's student picture announce 'WINNER' together with a picture of a woobat.

"I think your sister still got it." Bianca murmured.

Before he got the time to answer, his VS recorder beeped. "I gotta go. Good luck with your next match, okay?" He clenched Bianca's hand lightly and ran off towards platform four. The exact same platform his sister was getting off. He passed her as if she was thin air.

On the opposite side of the field he recognized the girl as Karoline. She'd just exchanged place with Sophia, who looked like she had been crying. That was never a good thing to do in front of the scouts.

Touya gave a sign he was ready, and Karoline followed. The inspector announced the battle had started.

"Ladies first!" He shouted at her with a big grin. He didn't really like her, she was too tall for his taste, but she'd always been nice and let him copy her homework when he'd needed to.

A palpitoad was released at the other end.

Touya sent out the petilil, blessing the weather for being such a harsh sun today. This battle might very well come down to speed.

"Petilil, keep sending magic leaves at it!"

The little bulb pokemon spun around itself once, and glowing leaves started appearing. For a second, they were still in the air, then they shot towards the palpitoad. And the petilil kept spinning and shooting.

The palpitoad jumped around, avoiding half of the leaves, being hit by the other. It opened its mouth, and a second after the leaves fall to the ground and petilil is stumbling around, looking distressed.

"Snap out of it. Use giga drain." Touya squatted as the petilil stumbled around and bumped into him, helped it regain its balance by letting it rest against him for a second.

Having snapped out of the confusion, and with new fighting spirit, the petilil turned towards the opponent. The oblong leaves on top of its head started glowing, and not long after the palpitoad passed out.

"Battle over!" The inspector announced. "Winner: Hilbert Touya Black!" Again, his picture and the petilil's was broadcasted.

Touya squatted down again and gave the petilil a little pat. "Thank you for your help." He said, recalled the bulb pokemon and handed it over to the audino that came from Karoline. Of course, it had gone for the more hurt pokemon.

With his shoulders back and head held high, he made his way over to the girl. He looked a bit up at her, and they shook hands. "Thanks for the battle."

A blush had crept across her cheeks. "Thank you, Touya."

As soon as they were done with the formalities, he turned around and looked for his friends. Nowhere to see. Instead his VS recorder made a beep. He picked it out of his pocket again, and he just stared at it for what felt like hours.

His next battle was against his sister.

Making his way towards the last battle field, number seven, he kept clenching and unclenching his hands. Out of all people he had to battle his sister. With a joltik. All he could hope for was that she would pull out some weak water type like luvdisc.

She was standing in the middle of the field. He just went to his designated spot as a trainer, and after staring at her for too long, she got the hint, turned around, and slowly walked towards her own spot.

Both of them gave sign to the inspector, and she announced the start of the battle.

Touya released joltik as fast as he could, knowing it was both their last battle, he needed the upper hand no matter what.

The upper hand until she released a boldore.

He looked through the VS recorder to recheck the joltik's moves, in case he'd missed anything useful. Nothing. All of them were bug- or electric moves.

"Joltik, use thunder wave!"

Touko just stared at him, and he watched her movements as she lifted the pokeball and pressed the button. The boldore disappeared in a red flash. "I forfeit." She announced clearly.

"Battle over!" The inspector announced. "Winner: Hilbert Touya Black!"

It felt as if his eyes were to pop out any moment. The blood that rushed to his face made him so hot he could feel his embarrassment both inside and outside. Again, she'd done the worst she could to mess it up for him.

He recalled the joltik and handed it over to the audino while never taking his eyes of his sister. He noticed how she started to hastily walk away, towards the audience, and he started to slowly run to catch up to her. She walked around one of the audiences stands, disappering out of sight, when he'd just reached the stands.

"Hey! Mr. Black!"

Looking to his side, several of the men and women tried to wave him over. Tried to catch his attention. Deciding this would be more important in the future than screaming his sister's head off, he stopped in his track, and walked towards the first lady who waved.

"Hi, I'm from Silph Co. If you're interested, we would like to offer you a sponsorship." She said and extended a hand forward.

Before he had time to take it, another hand had already slit in and grabbed the lady's. "I'm the one you want to talk to. I'm his mother." When that had been said, she turned towards her son. "I'm so proud of you, Touya. Do you know how rare it is to have three consecutive wins?"

"I didn't win the last one."

His mother smiled apologetically to the lady. "I think it would be better if you directed your offer through the school. Now if you'll excuse us."

She turned around and placed a hand on her son's shoulder, leading him away from any curious eavesdropper. "Touya."

"Mom."

She took a big sigh. "Try and look at it as a present from your sister. Would you rather have she was the one with three consecutive fights?"

"So, you're saying she would automatically have won?" he crossed his arms and look defiantly up at her.

His mother scoffed. "Please, I know you. She had a big advantage, and you started panicking, double checking your recorder." She placed a hand on his shoulder, feeling his tension. "But that doesn't mean she's better than you."

"But she is." He said and brushed her hand off his shoulder. "I'm gonna go find a bus home."

His mother followed him with her eyes, and an ache in her heart. After a minute, she walked after him. Her son wasn't going take a bus home after his Battle Exam.


	3. Signing Scholarships

She was panting as the professor's lab came into vision. The sweat was making her shirt stick to her back, and after running for five minutes she'd had to pull off her beret, since it was making her sweat even more.

Bianca looked over shoulder, scouting for any familiar faces. She gave a small prayer that nobody would see her. She hadn't taken the bus and gotten off several stops further down just at the outskirts of Nuvema, only to fail now.

Almost colliding with the door in front of the lab, she tried to yank it open, but it didn't budge an inch. She gripped her beret even tighter and repeatedly pressed the doorbell.

"Yes?" a voice said through the speaker next to the doorbell.

She frantically scouted over her shoulder, panting between her words. "I'm… Bianca… Bel."

_"__Ah, Miss Bel. The Professor is waiting for you."_

A click was heard, and Bianca was this time able to push open the door. The first thing she noted was the amazingly chill temperature, but the sight exceeded all her expectations.

Everywhere she looked there was something going on. High tech machinery working, scientists cutting up fossil bones, some mixing chemicals she couldn't even dream to identify, others was typing og computers. Around the lab several reuniclus floated around disinfection the areas, a few beheeyem were flashing their multi coloured fingers, and everything was so… bright.

"Hi, you must be Bianca." A beautiful brunette wearing a suit with a lab coat over it walked up to Bianca. "The others are waiting for you. Follow me."

"I'm so sorry I'm late… I swear I would've been here earlier if-"

The woman had already started walking, ignoring whatever Bianca was about to say. She had to skip a few steps to be able to catch up to her fast pace. They stopped in front of a door, and the lady knocked twice, before opening it. "Professor, Ms. Bel is finally here." She announced and moved to the side so Bianca could walk in.

Inside was a long table with several chairs. Touya and Cheren with their backs to the door, and the professor facing the door. In the middle of the table was a few unlabeled boxes.

"Hi, I'm so sorry I'm late. I swear-"

"And I swear no excuse is worth wasting more time, Bianca." Cheren hissed, sitting uptight at the table with his arms crossed.

The feeling of her chest tightening was something Bianca was used to, but not to feel it around her friends. She looked down at her shoes and fidgeted with the beret in her hands.

"Thank you, Giselle. Now, come inside, Ms. Bel. We've been waiting for you." The professor gestured towards the empty chair next to Touya.

Bianca slowly walked over to it and tried to sit down as silently as possible. First when she'd sat down, the other woman walked around the table and took a seat next to the professor.

"I'm glad you all could make it here today." The professor started out. "As you probably know I'm Professor Juniper, the National Pokémon Professor of Unova.

"You're here today, because I have invited you three to accept a scholarship sponsored by me based on your performances at your Battle Exams and your overall GPA. For Ms. Bel the Origin Studies Health & Care Scholarship," Her assistant, Giselle, had placed three tablets in front of the kids.

"For Mr. Eguchi The Origin Studies Knowledge Scholarship, and for Mr. Black The Origin Studies Battle Scholarship. As you've noticed my assistant has put some tablets in front of you. In the text they present you are the terms for the scholarship. I recommend reading them carefully before making a choice."

Bianca suppressed a sigh. The letters were dancing in front of her eyes, so she slowly started to scroll with her finger, tracing the words with her eyes, yet only getting every fifth word or so.

"To sum up the terms and conditions, you will each be given a starter pokemon depending on your scholarship, a pokedex, VS. Recorder, Platinum trainer classes, some starter items, and your future pokemon will be transferred to the farm connected to the lab, not a computer. You'll be given this for two years without me being able to pull out of the contract either, and after that we can negotiate again if it's of interest to both parties.

"You will be working and gathering information we might use at the lab. You're agreeing to help out the League in any way possible if they should call for your help for the next 15 years.

"You're agreeing to not buy certain items. Your trainer card will literally not be able to purchase them once you sign." The professor took a little breath, seeing the black-haired kid, Mr. Eguchi, had his had raised. "Yes, Mr. Eguchi?"

"The contract says right here that failure to respond to the Emergency Call from The Pokemon League will result in being put on a wanted list. What does that mean?"

She gave him a hard smile. It made Bianca look away. "Being put on a wanted list means you'll become a criminal. Bounty Trainers will start hunting you. The bounty would depend on your estimated skills and danger level. Of course, the penalty would be less severe if the wanted went willingly with the bounty trainer." The professor answered.

Touya clicked his tongue. "Who even cares!" and with a long swipe across the tablet screen he came to the bottom of the terms, drew his digital signature, and pressed confirm. "Why would anyone not wanna help the League anyway."

Bianca saw out of her eye corner that small balloons flew around on his screen, congratulating him."I really wanna be a trainer too." She whispered to herself, followed his example, and balloons started appearing on her screen too.

Cheren rolled his eyes at his friends, and continued reading.

"While Mr. Eguchi still reads, would you mind handing out the equipment to our new Trainers, Giselle?"

The assistant got up from her chair again and walked around the table, so she was standing on the same side as the children. She took the two tablets from them and put back in one of the boxes. Then she opened the two other boxes and placed black identical backpacks in front of Bianca and Touya. Next Unovan pokedexes. VS recorders. Their trainer licenses. Some essential starter kits like potions and pokeballs.

Balloons appeared on Cheren's screen as well now.

"I'm glad you've agreed as well, Mr. Eguchi." The professor said, giving a small nod.

Cheren leaned back while the assistant started placing the same items in front of him. "The pros are just too good. Being sponsored by the League is very advantageous."

Bianca's eyes widened when she recognized the next things in Giselle's hands. Occupied pokeballs. She was being given her starter pokemon right now. A moment she'd only hoped to dream about.

"For you, Ms. Bel, the fire-type Tepig." The professor said as Giselle placed a pokeball with the little symbol of fire on in front of her.

She zoned out and just started at the ball in front of her. She just faintly registered the boys receiving pokeballs out the corner of her eye. She picked it up and started down at the ball. A warm sensation spread from her stomach to all over her body and a huge grin spread over her face. "Oh, thank you, Professor!" She exclaimed, then her face flushed red when she realised she'd just interrupted her.

The woman chuckled. "Don't worry. Alright, do you have any questions?" The professor asked.

All three kids shook their heads, all felt at a loss for word, all three gave off a certain glow at that moment.

"If you come up with any questions don't hesitate to shoot me a mail or call me. My contact information is both in your backpacks and coded in to your new pokedex. If you have any devices like an xtransceiver I would prefer if you contact me that way. " She rose from the table, and all three kids followed her example. Giselle walked over and opened the door out to the lab.

"Thank you for coming today. I look forward to seeing your results in my data and hearing about it from people." The professor smiled and gestured towards her assistant. "Giselle will follow you out."

Bianca gave a little bow, gathered her new items, including her new pokeball, and put them in her new backpack, and held it in her arms as she walked out behind the boys. They had both swung their backpacks over their shoulders.

Giselle was pacing just as fast as when Bianca arrived, so she had to walk as fast as she could to keep up. When they arrived at the exit, she turned around and faced the kids. "Remember pokemon isn't only about calculating numbers." With those words, she opened the door as a gesture of goodbye.

Outside they were greeted by a harsh sun. It was in the middle of summer, and Bianca already missed the air condition from within the laboratory. She held a hand up, screening from the sun as she scouted around outside. She felt lucky people weren't coming home from work for another hour or two, and it was so hot everybody else would rather stay inside.

"Let's battle!" Touya exclaimed and turned to Cheren with a broad grin.

"Sorry, I promised I would get home straight away and show my starter. Let's battle tomorrow. See you guys." With those words, he turned around and gave a little wave with his back to them.

Touya pouted as he watched his best friend run off, then turned to Bianca. "Then let's battle, Bianca! Come on!" He took her hand and started pulling her towards a more open space.

"Stop."

"Come on, it'll be fun!"

She pulled her hand herself. "I said stop!" She said with a shaky voice, turned around on her heels and started to quickly walk in the other direction, towards the outskirts.

Touya ran up beside her and grabbed her by the elbow. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Come." After that, they just kept walking in silence. Bianca's eyes kept darting around every time she caught some movement. Most of the time it was just a bird taking off or a leaf dancing in the wind. After a little while they turned a corner, and Bianca finally stopped up, letting out a breath she wasn't sure for how long she'd been holding in.

"So, what's up? Do you not want people to see us battle or what?"

Bianca looked down at her feet. "Do you promise not to tell anyone?"

"That we battled?"

She sighed and looked up at him. "I need you to take my backpack. I can't bring it home."

Touya opened his mouth and was at a loss for words for a few seconds. "You can't be serious. You didn't tell your dad?"

Her eyes started tearing up. "Please don't tell anybody. I will pick up the backpack the day after you guys leave. Touko promised to cover for me."

"You told my sister but not me?" Touya clenched his jaw.

"Please, Touya, just leave the backpack in your closet." Tears were rolling down her cheeks now. This just couldn't be the end.

Realising his friend was crying, he pulled Bianca into a hug. "Of course, I'll take it. We'll wait for you in Accumula."

Finally, able to relax for a second, sobs escaped from her as she hugged her friend back, feeling the tension partly leaving her body. Maybe there really was hope.


End file.
